


Goodbyes

by BlaiddGwyn (dragonLeighs)



Series: Jaskier Whump Week [1]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Apologizes, Hurt Jaskier | Dandelion, Injured Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier Whump Week (The Witcher), Jaskier | Dandelion Whump, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Post-Episode: S01E06 Rare Species, only for a little bit though - Freeform, they sort things out by the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25508215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonLeighs/pseuds/BlaiddGwyn
Summary: Jaskier heads back down the mountain by himself. There's a storm coming and one wrong turn has meant he's now trapped at the bottom of a rapidly flooding ravine.Geralt sets off after his bard, intending to apologise. When Jaskier's trail veers of the path, he expects the worst.Written for day 1 of Jaskier Whump Week.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Jaskier Whump Week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847923
Comments: 1
Kudos: 161
Collections: Jaskier Whump Week





	Goodbyes

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written anything for a challenge before and I'm not sure how well this fills the day 1 prompt: Goodbyes, but I tried my best.

Jaskier swiped away the tears as he began the long trek back down the mountain. He had returned to their camp from the night before to take his things back before leaving the mountain side. He had been walking for hours, eager to get to the bottom before the incoming storm hit.

He had decided against going back along the treacherous path the dwarves had led them down, taking the longer route the Reavers had chosen instead. Unfortunately, this meant he had no idea if he was going in the right direction and it was beginning to get dark.

He had a feeling he had made a wrong turn somewhere when the path began to narrow and disappear into the surrounding undergrowth. He must had followed a deer trail instead of the path down. It was getting too dark to be able to start retracing his steps back to the main path so he decided to push on, hoping to find shelter from the approaching storm. It was a stupid decision, he knew, but he was hardly in the right state of mind and just wanted to get under cover.

The sky grew dark rapidly as the sun set behind thick grey clouds and the rain followed shortly after. He felt as though destiny was pissing on him, as if his life weren’t bad enough at the moment. After much stumbling around, he eventually broke through the trees to find a ravine. He thought he could just make out a cave ahead, just above a bend in the ravine where the bank sloped down and decided that would do for shelter.

He started making his way toward it, finding the rocks at the edge of the ravine had been loosened by the now torrential rain. He moved slowly, not wanting to cause a landslide. He was about halfway to the cave when lightning struck. The sudden flash of light made him jump, causing him to lose his footing and slip. Thunder rumbled not a second later. He tried to stop himself from falling but the ground was slick with mud and he found himself going down with the loose rocks and mud.

He felt himself tumbling down the side of the ravine, being pelted by falling debris on the way down. When the world seemed to stop spinning, he had to take a moment to gain his bearings and catch his breath as the wind had been knocked out of him. He was lying on his back at the bottom of the ravine which was rapidly beginning to fill with water. He sat up only to find his lower half buried under the rubble.

As lightning struck again and lit up the sky, he saw his legs were trapped by a large rock which had tumbled town with him and was buried under several slightly smaller rocks. He tried to move the ones he could reach in an attempt to get free, but it was no use. There was no way he could move the larger rocks from his current position. He was trapped, and the water was rising steadily, already a few inches deep.

As uncomfortable as it was, Jaskier had to remain sitting upright. He was stuck sitting at an awkward angle with his legs higher up the mound of rubble than his arse so that he was bent at an awkward angle. His back was already starting to ache but it was nothing compared with the awful, crushing pressure he felt on his legs.

There was very little he could do and he couldn’t help the feeling of helplessness. He was alone out here, no witcher to help him. He wouldn’t even know he had wandered off the path, even if he cared to begin with. Jaskier found he couldn’t hold back the tears as they spilled down his face, joining the rain already soaking him.

As true darkness fell, the water in the ravine only continued to rise. It had reached his hips by now and the rain showed no sign of stopping. He had begun shivering at some point as the icy water soaked through his clothes. He was tired but lying down would surely mean drowning. He couldn’t help but think this whole situation was ridiculous. He’d been on countless dangerous hunts with Geralt before and had mostly come out unscathed. Yet here he was, trapped in a flooding ravine due to his own stupidity. If he’d just paid more attention to where he was going, he never would have taken a wrong turn and ended up here.

Geralt stood at the top of the mountain, staring out at the view. He wasn’t really looking, stuck in his head with his swirling thoughts. He was angry and upset. He had honestly thought he had found someone who loved him for him in Yennefer. He loved her, djinn or not, and he had thought she had felt the same. But he should have known better than to tie a woman like Yennefer to himself and expect a happy ending. Witchers weren’t made to be happy after all.

Then Jaskier had come along, acting as though his world hadn’t just been upended. He knew he was just trying to help but he should’ve just let him be. Instead he had tried to help with words and Geralt had snapped. He’d shouted at him, yelling words that he knew weren’t true, but he couldn’t help himself. He was angry and Jaskier was there, a target he knew wouldn’t fight back.

He knew he should apologise to the bard so when he finally felt calm enough, he turned and headed back to their camp from last night. He expected that was where Jaskier had gone since he had heard him walk away earlier. When he reached the camp however it had been deserted. Only Geralt’s things remained. Not even the dwarves had stuck around. There was no sign of the bard.

A storm was fast approaching the mountain. The smart thing to do at this point would be to wait it out at camp and wait for it to blow over but if Jaskier had gone, there was no way he would make it down before it hit. He had no equipment with him and he would be stuck. Maybe he could find somewhere he could shelter for the night, but the mountain was dangerous. Mind made up, Geralt quickly gathered his things and set off to find the bard.

At first, he followed the bard’s trail down the path. It had begun raining and the only light came from the occasional flashes of lightning, but he had no difficulty navigating the night with his enhanced sight. He would have kept following the path, but he noticed a few broken branches in the undergrowth. Jaskier’s faint scent seemed to lead in that direction. He must have gotten lost and followed a deer trail instead of the main path, which to be fair to the bard, wasn’t much wider.

Geralt followed the new track. It was almost impossible to see here due to the trees blocking almost all the light but eventually he came to a ravine beyond the trees. Jaskier’s trail seemed to end here but there was no sight of him. He just made out what looked to be a small cave at the far end of the ravine and assumed that was where he had gone. That was until he spotted his lute case lying on the ground at the edge of the ravine.

He carefully made his way over and picked up the case. It seemed it had been dropped. He looked down and could just make out Jaskier in the darkness, sitting at the bottom of the ravine in water that was up to his waist. “Jaskier!” he called down, hoping to be heard above the storm. Jaskier looked up at him.

“Geralt! I’m stuck!” he called back, voice faint over the pouring rain.

“Hold on,” he called back. He didn’t have any rope with him so he decided to keep going to where he had seen the cave where there was a bend in the ravine. The bank was steep but it was the only way to get down to Jaskier without falling down the near vertical sides. He removed his bags and set them in the shelter of the cave along with the lute before heading down.

The rocks were unsteady under his feet, loosened by the rain pouring down. He made it down unscathed and carefully made his way over to the trapped bard, wading through the muddy water toward Jaskier. As he approached, he could see his legs had become trapped by the rocks that had fallen on him when he fell.

Jaskier himself was shivering violently and was curled over himself, trying to preserve as much warmth as possible. He’d clearly been here for some time. Geralt felt a pang of guilt. If he hadn’t shouted at him, if he had come found him sooner, Jaskier wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

Geralt immediately got to work removing the rocks trapping the bard, trying to stop the heavier ones from crushing his legs further as he went. It was unavoidable however and Jaskier let out pained cries as the rocks shifted. The last rock was the biggest by far and took a lot of effort from the witcher just to shift it off Jaskier’s legs.

Once he was freed, Geralt checked him over for broken bones. Once he was satisfied the worst injuries he had were just bruises, he hauled him to his feet and slung his arm around his shoulders. Jaskier seemed pretty out of it at that point, more from the cold than the pain, and it would have been easier to carry him but with the water and loose rock, he was more likely to fall. So together they made it back to the slope and began the scramble out of the ravine.

It took a lot of effort and encouragement from the witcher to get Jaskier to keep going, exhausted as he was. It seemed for each step they took the rocks gave way and they would go skidding back down. Eventually they made it to the top and Geralt dragged the semi-conscious bard into the cave. It wasn’t particularly big, but it provided enough shelter from the rain for now.

The witcher helped him out of his drenched clothes. He pulled out a bedroll which was only slightly damp thanks to his bag, laying it out next to the bard. He moved him inside before stripping himself of his armour. His shirt underneath had been spared the worst of the rain and was only damp in a few places. He lay all the clothes on the floor to dry before climbing into the bedroll with Jaskier. He pressed their skin together so that they had the maximum amount of contact, hoping it would be enough to warm the bard. Jaskier’s skin was damp and almost icy and rather worryingly he had stopped shivering.

Ideally, he would build a fire but there wouldn’t be anything suitable to burn so they just lay there in the dark. Eventually Jaskier began shivering again, waking only to complain about the pain of blood flow returning to his limbs. Geralt tried to calm him down and he soon drifted back asleep. Satisfied the bard wasn’t about to die on him he also succumbed to sleep.

Jaskier woke to find himself surprisingly warm and dry. He cracked his eyes open to find himself in a cave. Looking around the small space revealed Geralt sitting against the opposite wall staring out at the still pouring rain.

“Morning,” he said.

Geralt gave a customary hum of greeting. The atmosphere in the cave was tense and Jaskier wasn’t quite sure what to do. He went to get up before realising he was stark naked. “Uh, where are my clothes?”

Geralt got up and rummaged through one of the bags at the back of the cave before handing Jaskier a set of Geralt’s shirts and trousers. “Yours got soaked and you don’t seem to have any more.”

“Ah,” he said, taking the offered clothes. The problem with hiking up a mountain with no horse was that one was forced to travel light, and a spare set of clothes hadn’t really been a priority. He got dressed quickly, taking note of the cuts and bruises littering his body. The worst were on his legs where he had been trapped the night before. His memory was hazy, but he vaguely remembered Geralt appearing above him before coming to his rescue a few minutes later.

“Thanks for coming for me,” he said after pulling on the slightly too big shirt. Geralt said nothing, having gone back to staring out at the storm. “When we get back to Roach, I’ll get my stuff and be on my way. You won’t have to see me again,” he continued, sensing Geralt was angry he had to rescue the bard.

At that, the witcher finally turned to look at him. “Jaskier… I,” he cut himself off, not knowing exactly what he should say. He’d never been good with words, usually letting the bard do the talking. But now it was clear the bard thought he wanted him gone when that was the opposite and he had to fix it now before he actually did leave this time.  
“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday,” he began.

“Well those words didn’t just come out of nowhere, did they. You hardly talk to me, barely call me your friend and the first time you say more than one sentence to me, you blame me for all the shit in your life. So forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe.” His voice steadily grew angrier until he practically spat the last few words.

“None of what’s happen has been your fault. The child surprise was my fault, I shouldn’t have claimed the law of surprise. The djinn was my fault for refusing to submit to my destiny. And Yennefer… I never should have tied her to me. We were doomed from the start.” He made eye contact with the bard, willing him to believe him. “You’ve only ever been a friend to me, Jaskier. And I took you for granted. I’m sorry, and if you want to never see me again once we’re off this damned mountain, I won’t stop you. But I would like you to keep travelling with me. If you want to of course.”

The bard’s expression shifted from angry to something unreadable. When he didn’t reply, Geralt took that to mean they were done, Jaskier had decided he was no longer worth spending his time around and he honestly couldn’t blame him. Twenty-two years of denying his friendship and Jaskier had had enough.

They continued to sit in silence for what felt like forever. The storm was gradually lessening although the witcher doubted it would completely stop for another few days. They just needed to get to Roach and then head back to the inn where this whole shitshow had begun. He could leave Jaskier there while the storm raged on. He got up to check their bags, packing away Jaskier’s still damp clothes. Luckily Geralt’s clothes had avoided the worst of the rain thanks to his armour and had been mostly dry when he woke. Jaskier’s clothes hadn’t been so fortunate, having been completely soaked and covered in mud. Hence why he was now wearing Geralt’s spare clothes.

He packed away the bedroll as well once Jaskier had shifted out of it. He could tell his legs were hurting him but he remained silent. Hopefully, he would be able to make it the rest of the way down the mountain without too much trouble.

When he judged the rain had lessened as much as it was likely to, he spoke to Jaskier again. “We should go before the rain picks up again.”

Jaskier nodded, having already pulled on his boots sensing Geralt was getting ready to leave. Jaskier pulled himself to his feet, favouring his left leg and using the wall to balance. Geralt picked up his cloak and placed it around his shoulders. At Jaskier’s questioning look he said, “You’ll get soaked. My armour will keep my dry.”

He shouldered their two bags and handed the lute case to Jaskier. “I can take my own bag,” he complained.

“No you can’t. You can barely walk.”

Jaskier only huffed at that, letting go of the wall and attempting to take a step toward the witcher. Predictably, as soon as he put any weight on his right leg he almost fell. Geralt managed to catch him and helped him upright, wrapping an arm around his waist while guiding Jaskier’s arm around his shoulders, just like the night before.

“Maybe you’re right,” Jaskier conceded.

Together they emerged out of the cave and into the rain. Ever so slowly, Geralt guided them back around the top of the ravine toward where he had emerged from the trees before. It was difficult, the path being narrow and Jaskier only having the use of one of his legs, but they made it eventually. From there they made their way back to the main path and back down the mountain.

They reached Roach several hours later. They were both exhausted, Geralt having to carry two bags and support most of Jaskier’s weight and the bard himself having to practically hop down the mountain. Roach seemed glad to see them and none of their stuff seemed to be missing which was something he was grateful for.

He helped Jaskier onto Roach before climbing into the saddle in front of him. It was only a short ride back to the inn, so he wasn’t too worried about their combined weight being too much for her. She required little prompting to get going, eager to be on the move again and to get out from the rain.

After perhaps twenty minutes of riding they arrived back at the inn. He dismounted, before leading Roach into the stable. He helped Jaskier down and had him lean against the wall while he saw to Roach. A stable hand appeared and he payed her a few silver coins to take care of his mare before dragging the bard back into the rain to get to the inn.

Despite being exhausted and soaked, Jaskier somehow managed to barter a lowered price for a room and a bath. Geralt for once didn’t complain about the added expense. They were both soaked from the rain and covered in mud from the ravine. With a grunt, Geralt helped Jaskier up the stairs and shoved open the door with his shoulder. He set Jaskier down on the bed before leaving to retrieve their stuff from where it had been left with Roach. It seemed that at least for now, Jaskier didn’t object to them staying in a room together.

When he returned, he found Jaskier had removed the sodden cloak and shirt was now sat shivering slightly with his borrowed trousers still on. The bath had been brought into their room and was filled with steaming water.

“Do you need help?” Geralt asked when Jaskier simply stared at it. Jaskier nodded so Geralt helped him out of his trousers and into the bath. His leg had only gotten worse the longer they walked, causing him to limp more and more. Geralt suspected he had sprained his ankle in the fall, doubting it was broken as he’d been able to put some weight on it earlier. He would need to rest it for a few weeks at least until he could travel again.

Geralt found a bar of soap in one of Jaskier’s bags and handed it to the bard which he took gratefully. Geralt gave him some privacy while he washed, finding dry clothes for them both for after they bathed.

For once Jaskier didn’t linger in the warm water, getting out before it went cold so Geralt could enjoy a warm bath too. Geralt helped the bard over to the bed where he dressed himself while the witcher sank into the tub. The water was lukewarm but not unpleasant to his chilled skin. He bathed efficiently, not spending any longer in the water than was necessary.

He dried himself off and got dressed before sitting next to Jaskier on the bed. “Let me see your ankle,” he said, indicating for the bard to rest his foot on his lap. He gently tested his range of motion before concluding that it was badly sprained. He wrapped it in a strip of cloth for support. Once he was done, Jaskier resumed his position sitting next to the witcher. “You should avoid walking on it as much as possible for the next few weeks. Keep it elevated.”

With that he stood and began packing his things away. “What are you doing?” Jaskier asked.

“Leaving.”

“What? Why?”

“I didn’t think you wanted to travel with me anymore.”

“What made you think that?” he said, almost incredulous.

“Back in the cave. You didn’t say anything.”

A look of understanding crossed the bard’s face. “No. Geralt, I… I didn’t know what to say. I do want to keep travelling with you. But there’s some things we need to change first.”  
Geralt blinked at him for a moment, his bags forgotten. He simply stood and stared at the bard, not knowing what to say. Jaskier wanted to travel with him, despite the horrible lies he had thrown at him.

“You’ve got to stop treating me like I’m nothing but an annoyance to you. We’ve travelled together for twenty-two years for crying out loud and I know you like me really. So please stop trying to make me go away and maybe even call me your friend every now and then. Or at least stop denying it every time I call you my friend.” He paused, waiting for some kind of reply from the witcher. 

He knew he had been unfair to Jaskier but witchers were supposed to be solitary. They didn’t have friends. Friends were a distraction, no matter how much better they made his life. Everyone he cared about either left or got killed anyway. He’d been trying to save himself from the pain of the inevitable but only caused them both pain along the way.  
“I’m so sorry, Jaskier. I never meant to hurt you. I was trying to protect myself against what I thought was inevitable. I should have realised long ago you weren’t going to leave me.”

“I’d thought you’d gotten that hint after you gut punched me in Posada.”

Geralt felt another surge of guilt. He’d only wanted to deter the annoying bard from following him at the time. He’s glad now that he couldn’t be… persuaded.  
“I’ll, erm, go order some food.” He felt like he needed an excuse to escape. 

Jaskier likely saw right through his excuse to leave but let him have it. “Good idea. I’m absolutely starving.”

With a small nod, he grabbed his coin purse and headed downstairs. Later they could sort things out properly. For now, however, he wanted to start making things right.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know in the comments what you think whether it's your favourite bit or something you think I could work on in the future.
> 
> Come say hi to me on [tumblr!](https://blaidd-gwyn.tumblr.com/)


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